6 Tidiness and Litter Control
Not only is this section about not seeing litter strewn on the ground, it's about having well-presented homes, shop fronts, and businesses. The absence of anything that doesn't add to the best presentation of the neighbourhood.
Competition Guide Notes:
TIDINESS: General lack of clutter, blocked footpaths, redundant poles, unsightly overhead electric cables, absence of graffiti and fly-posting and evidence of control of weed growth at kerbs. Absence of unsightly and or inappropriate advertising, such as that on gables of buildings and mass produced advertising banners in shop fronts. Please note that although general tidiness is evaluated and marked in this category, tidiness is also considered under other categories including the Streetscape & Public Places, Approach Roads, Streets & Lanes.
LITTER: The adjudicator will assess the absence of litter and dumping, evidence of litter control strategy, including regular litter patrols, segregation of collected litter during clean-ups and promotion of anti-litter awareness throughout community.
2022-23 Summary
(M) Bridge Clean
Great to see teamwork in action again and making a positive difference in the community. Many thanks to John Rochfort Property Maintenance for giving up his morning to clean the St Martha's Bridge railings. We don't appreciate how dirty it gets until you see it shine after the pressure washing. Thank you also to Navan RFC for providing the water.
(N) Stop Dumping
In December Meath County Council inquired as to the origin of significant hedge and grass clippings dumped on the side of Metges Road opposite The Priory estate. It was identified as being household waste illegally dumped.
During works to clear the drainage channels the waste was removed and 2 'No Dumping' signs were erected.
(N) Long Verge Cut
An unplanned, yet very welcomed, development during the summer months was the 'Let it Grow' verge on Bothar Sion at the Bailis Downs estate.
Today it was cut and cleared having been let grow since May. This protected the wildflower strip and helped trap litter that would otherwise be blown across the estate lawn.
(N) Riverside Cleaned
Organised by our local Wild About Navan, April 1st, we participated with 50 others to clean dozens of litter bags in the 1st Big Boyne Clean Up at the Ramparts, Navan. In a future visit we aim to include our local Athlumney Riverside.
(N) 'Don't Mow Yet'
In 2022 Meath County Council allowed certain verges and roundabouts to grow the grass longer than usual to allow wildflowers to appear and to provide a better habitat for biodiversity. In March we met to discuss and endorse that 2km of Metges Road be included. A flurry of dandelions resulted within weeks and we helped improve the presentation by clearing the cycle path unwanted weeds and edged some of the verges.
(M) Late First Lawn Cut
Delaying the first lawn cut of the year isn't easy when Easter keeps moving around and when many decide to revisit their gardens and children want to play outside. Several estate lawns did however benefit and the display of dandelions turned Johnstown yellow.
(M) Green Km: Stop Weedkiller Use
We can't support biodiversity and actively be seen to kill it at the same time.
As part of our green km MCC initiative, we are maintaining 4km of public main roads without weedkillers. We were unsuccessful in seeking the Community Capital Grant for the Foamstream treatment and resorted to Plan C with help from Meath County Council.
Graffiti Removal
Removal of Graffiti and Litter today, both are blights on our environment and completely avoidable.
Steps Clean Up
Our appeal for volunteers earlier in the week resulted in the Spireview Steps getting a thorough clean from litter.
Now we need a regular clean-up to maintain this litter hotspot.
Kerb Appeal
The roadside edge at Spireview Parade gets a thorough cleaning of weeds to improve the presentation of the summer meadow site.
What's Going On?
A Navan-wide spate of graffitti had us tormented. Over a dozen sites along Bothar Sion had graffiti removed by volunteers and this is after removing several instances only days earlier.
A lawn without an owner?
A few minutes spent by a volunteer with a lawnmower has quickly improved the presentation of the Metges Road bus stop outside the vacant property.
Clear The Clutter
As part of our MCC Green Km initiative we made a request to remove the two 'out of date' and very large National Development Plan signs at the Bothar Sion bus stop.
Weed Killer Free
As part of our MCC Green Km initiative and in a bid to persued the IDA not to use weed killer on the Bothar Sion fence line we neatly trimmed along its length.
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Request to replace signs
We made requests to MCC to replace 2 street signs on Bothar Sion and to correct one direction sign that has been wrong for over a decade on south Metges Road.
